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| Originally, Circular Quay was not circular at all; it was a tidal mud-flat, with a slash - in the south-western corner - where the Tank Stream entered Sydney Cove. Hah! A corner in a circular shape - boggles the mind, eh what? The engineer, George Barney, was allocated a team of convicts to shape up the cove from about 1836 when mercantilism was the colony's saviour. At that stage, that landward side of the cove was known as 'semi-circular quay". |
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| Between 1860 and 1880, it took on the shape that we see today; the Tank Stream went underground, the edges were buffed and lined with wool stores and gang planks. If you wander from the Opera House around the 'circular' bit to the Museum of Contemporary Art, you will notice, perhaps, bronze plaques indicating the water's edge at various years from 1788 to today. |
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| The two, large colour photographs I took on Wednesday evening as I wandered across the Cahill Expressway from the Botanic Gardens to the Glenmore Hotel in The Rocks. The painting is a recreation of the raising of the flag of the United Kingdom on 26th January 1788 beside the waters of Sydney Cove. The black and white photogaph is dated 1892, and shows the hectic pace of the quayside along the eastern edge of Circular Quay. |
| Click here to see other participants in the City Daily Photo Theme Day for November, 'The Water's Edge'. |
27 comments:
I like the before and after photos here. Sydney sure has changed over the years!
i always love before and after shots!
Love the older images also, but wow the two fresh new shots are fabulous Julie, what an excellent view point. Sydney is looking good!!
Fascinating to see the then and now images. Beautiful photography Julie.
Circular Quay is such an exciting place. Thanks for the history; it will add to my enjoyment, next visit.
Your last photo is so nice, with both sides of the quay in it.
It is hard to imagine the place as it looks in the painting.
Julie I did try to link to theme day I followed the directions but the pic never appeared and when I tried to link again it said I already linked. What next?? Thanks MB
Julie, it is amazing to see so many iconic features in the same picture. And THANK YOU! For the pictures as well as for all the work you've been doing in getting the portal back and buzzing!
I like that first shot, it has the only two things I knew about Sydney in it...but I'm learning.
Perfect theme day post for Sydney. I like the good bit of history as well.
Oh Julie what a great idea to show how Sydney has changed!
Great informative post for the day!
Gee this brings back fond memories... Memories to which you are associated Julie if you remember ;-)
Great post.
As with all cities, it's seen a lot of change over the years. I love that photo with the bridge and the opera house in the same shot.
An edge with history, beautifully illustrated!
Thanks for your and team's great efforts in recreating the portal, excellent result.
Enjoy learning the geography and history of your great city, Julie, through your many exceptional posts of images and commentary. Thanks to Sydney Eye, I'm starting to feel like I've actually spent some time there.
Both beautiful and amazing to see the city past and present. You live in an amazing place!
WEll of course you had water, water , everywhere! :)
Your city was made for this Theme Day Julie and you did it proud.
V
I like the idea of plaques showing the changing edges of the harbor.
My goodness how things have changed. I was just looking at some photos of Melbourne in the 50's. Although that was before my time I have memories of the CBD in the 60s and I must admit the old photos made me quite nostalgic.
Love your choice for the theme day. Thank you for sharing it with us all.
Have a great month!
I think Barney's convicts did an amazing job at starting off this iconic busy, busy quay!
Such a beautiful place, Julie.
K
It is just so hard for me to imagine this transformation.
I don't think any of us Aussie bloggers can compete with that trifecta of icons - Opera House, Bridge, Harbour - and with fascinating history too! Interesting comparison between the B&W shot & your first - not as different as I thought they'd be!
Great light for these shots.
hi
when you use old pics from other collections can you please say where you got them from? its just good manners
but it also lets people know where they may find such stuff
staff in libraries, galleries and archives work hard to make sure our material culture is looked after so people can have free (or cheap) access to it no matter who they are.
acknowledging the collections they work for also acknowledges those people.
:-)
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